When an avalanche occurs, snow probes are used in a frantic search to find persons buried alive beneath a thick layer of snow. Each probe consists of a slender rod, six or more feet in length, that is used to probe for objects concealed beneath the layer of snow. To facilitate transportation and storage, these probes are manufactured in a plurality of mating sections. Persons buried live beneath the snow will suffocate if not located in a timely fashion. It is, therefore, important that the time required for assembly of equipment be kept to a minimum.
The industry has gone to a snow probe consisting of a plurality of tubular sections connected by a cable. A cable engaging screw member is secured to the cable. A nut is provided that is adapted to be threaded onto the screw member. In order to assemble the collapsible snow probe, the tubular sections are position in end to end relation. The nut is then threaded onto the screw member until it bears against a remote end of the plurality of tubular sections. This maintains the cable in tension and the interior bores of the tubular members are maintained in axial alignment.
Problems have been experienced with the screw and nut engagement. It is difficult to couple the screw member and the nut in cold weather when one is wearing gloves. As a result, the screw member and the nut can become cross-threaded. It takes time to thread the nut onto the screw member. Ice tends to form on the screw member and the nut, making it difficult, if not impossible, to separate the nut from the screw member without first melting the ice. The torque necessary to undo the nut sometimes results in a twisting of the cable. When the cable twists, instead of being loosened, the nut engages the screw member more tightly; so tightly they sometimes must be returned to the factory for removal.